GILEAD — The Gilead Historical Society will be hosting a public crockpot potluck lunch at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 22, at the Gilead Town Hall, followed by guest speaker Hugh Swan discussing his research on hobos of the railroad era.
The lunch will be “first come, first served,” with a $7 fee for adults, $3 for children aged 5 to 12 and free admission for children under 5.
Society member Lin Chapman said that the idea for the crockpot potluck was borne out of an attempt to find something “fun and historic” to do that would help raise money for the historical society.
“One of our biggest projects right now is restoring historical buildings in the community,” Chapman said. “We’ve restored the 1851 Train Station and the 1903 Gilead Village Schoolhouse, and we just installed new lights on the schoolhouse. There’s still a lot of work to be done, though.”
Chapman said that normally, the society attempts to host a kids-orientated event but with the dwindling population of children in Gilead, they found it more prudent to host a lunch instead.
“Me and my husband and the rest of the society were talking about maybe doing a brunch, but we realized that between all the stuff that would be required to cook it and trying to keep them warm, it’d be better to do a lunch,” Chapman said. “Somebody brought up ‘crockpots’ as an idea, and we went from there.”
Following the lunch, Chapman said that Locke Mills resident Hugh Swan will be discussing his research on the hobos of the railroad era.
“While restoring the train station, we found all kinds of messages and letters carved into the wood,” Chapman said. “We’re thinking that these were messages that hobos would leave for one another.”
Chapman expects the lunch to have a good turnout.
“We have more than 80 members in our historical society, but they’re spread out everywhere from here to Florida to the country of Norway,” Chapman said, laughing. “There’s a core group of 15 members who have spent a lot of time getting this together.”
Chapman added that the historical society’s 10th anniversary is next year, and that they expect to do something to commemorate it.
For more information on the lunch, please call Chapman at 836-2987. For more information on the Gilead Historical Society, visit gileadhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com.
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